The National Trial Lawyers
  • Home
    • Meet Our Team
    • Contact Us
    • Mission & Goals
    • FAQ
  • Webinars
  • News
  • Membership Directory
    • Top 100 Map – Civil Plaintiff
    • Top 100 Map – Criminal Defense
    • Top 40 Under 40 Map – Civil Plaintiff
    • Top 40 Under 40 Map – Criminal Defense
  • Top 100
    • Civil Plaintiff Officers / Executive Committee
    • Criminal Defense Officers / Executive Committee
    • Benefits
    • About
    • Top 100 Presidents Message
    • Diplomat
    • Membership Renewal
    • Member Profile Updates
    • Top 100 Badge
  • Top 40
    • Civil Plaintiff Officers / Executive Committee
    • Criminal Defense Officers / Executive Committee
    • Top 40 Under 40 Trial Academy Bootcamp
    • Benefits
    • About
    • Top 40 Presidents Message
    • Membership Renewal
    • Member Profile Updates
    • Top 40 Badge
  • Specialty Assoc
    • About
    • Shop
    • Officers
    • Membership Renewal
    • Member Profile Updates
  • Nominate
    • Top 100
    • Top 40
    • Specialty Association
    • Trial Lawyer Hall of Fame
    • Trial Lawyer of the Year
    • Trial Team of the Year
    • America’s Most Influential Trial Lawyer
    • America’s Most Influential Law Firm
    • Lifetime Achievement Award
  • Shop
  • Magazine
    • A-List
  • Education and Networking Agenda
    • Trial Lawyers Summit
    • Top 40 Under 40 Trial Academy Boot Camp
    • Mass Torts Made Perfect
    • The Lanier Trial Academy Master Class 6.0
    • The Business Of Law
    • Webinars
  • Hall of Fame
    • Trial Lawyer Hall of Fame

Hot Questions About Ashley Madison Data Breach Answered by Divorce Attorney

Posted on August 19, 2015 by Larry Bodine

Four Burning Questions About Ashley Madison Data Breach Answered By Matrimonial Law AttorneyBy Jacqueline Newman

Hackers who stole private customer info from the extramarital dating site AshleyMadison.com just released nearly 10 gigabytes of user information from the July security breach. Wired reports that the data has been released on the dark web. The data dump includes customer log-ins, plus “credit card and other payment transaction details” for some of the site’s 40 million users.

 

If millions of cheaters are outed, how could their spouses use this is illegally obtained information to initiate a divorce?

A spouse does not need proof of infidelity to initiate a divorce.  However, a spouse in the midst of a divorce litigation can use this information in court to try to prove infidelity, support marital waste arguments as well as to impeach credibility.

Would simply being a member of Ashley Madison be enough proof of infidelity or would there need to be more evidence of correspondence between members to prove marital infidelity?

Again, you do not need to prove infidelity to get divorced any longer, but should someone chose to divorce on the ground of adultery then I would not necessarily think that being a member would be enough to prove adultery.  You may have someone who is just “browsing”.  That said, I would not think that excuse would hold much weight with your spouse when explaining why your name is on the Ashley Madison client list.

As millions of cheaters appear to have been outed publicly, do you believe that we could witness one of the largest & unprecedented waves of divorce filings in history?

I do not think the divorce waves will happen instantaneously.  Many couples try to overcome extra-marital affairs and I imagine some are successful.  However, for those that are not, the relationship deteriorates over time.   If the relationship was already weak (which may have been one of the reasons that the spouse reasons for being on the website to begin with), then this discovery could push the marriage over the breaking point.   I think there will be a huge amount of initial consultations but the actual divorce filings attributable to this event will be spread over years.  I do think that marriage counselors will become quite busy!

What should we learn from this?

I think people should learn from this scenario that nothing done on the internet is ever sacred.  Assume that every social media post, indiscreet purchase and dating website will be able to found somehow/someday.


atty-j-newmanNew York based Jacqueline Newman is a Family Law Attorney & Managing Partner at Berkman Bottger Newman & Rodd in NYC. Ms. Newman’s practice consists of litigation, collaborative law and mediation. Jacqueline specializes in complex high net worth matrimonial cases and negotiating prenuptial agreements. She has appeared as a commentator on various television shows and has been quoted as an expert in numerous publications, including Glamour Magazine, Crain’s New York Business, U.S. News and World Report, Woman’s Day and The Huffington Post.

Posted in Blog, Trial Practice

Comments are closed.

News Categories

Read about other Top Jury Verdicts

Walgreens Agrees to a $105 Million Shareholders Settlement

Walgreens Agrees to a $105 Million Shareholders Settlement

Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (WBA.O) agreed to pay $105 million to settle a long-running class-action lawsuit accus[Read More...]
A Military Couple Reaches a $15 Million Settlement With Tripler Hospital Over Botched Delivery

A Military Couple Reaches a $15 Million Settlement With Tripler Hospital Over Botched Delivery

A federal judge in Hawaii has approved a $15 million settlement for an Army couple whose son suffered brain damage from lack [Read More...]
Defrauded College Students Will Have $6 Billion Forgiven in a New Settlement

Defrauded College Students Will Have $6 Billion Forgiven in a New Settlement

The Biden administration has agreed to cancel $6 billion in student loans for about 200,000 former students who say they were[Read More...]
An Iowa City Settles Lawsuit Over a Deadly Police Shooting For $5 Million

An Iowa City Settles Lawsuit Over a Deadly Police Shooting For $5 Million

Burlington, Iowa, has agreed to pay $5 million to settle a wrongful death lawsuit brought by the mother of a man who was shot[Read More...]
Co-Owners File a $695 Million Lawsuit Against Georgia Power Over a Contract Dispute

Co-Owners File a $695 Million Lawsuit Against Georgia Power Over a Contract Dispute

The owners of a majority share of a nuclear power plant being expanded in Georgia are suing lead owner Georgia Power Co., cla[Read More...]

#LegalNews

@@TheNTLtop100

Contact Us | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy

Attorney information and content provided on this website is provided for the benefit of members of The National Trial Lawyers and as a public service by Legal Associations Management, Inc. The website and all data are the property of Legal Associations Management, Inc. Data, including without limitation attorney information and content, on the site may not be mined, sold, or used commercially for any purpose without the explicit written consent of Legal Associations Management, Inc. This site may not be accessed by any automated program for extracting data for any use. By accessing and using the site you agree that you will not develop, support or use software, devices, scripts, robots, or any other means or processes (including crawlers, browser plug-ins and add-ons, or any other technology) to scrape data or otherwise copy profiles and other data. Unauthorized use or attempted unauthorized use of this system may subject you to both civil and criminal penalties.